US Sex Sells News

A new bill in the Texas state legislature would require online retailers to implement age verification of purchasers before selling 'obscene' devices to anyone in that state.

SB 3003 was introduced by Republican state Sen. Angela Paxton, who was the lead sponsor of Texas HB 1181, the age verification bill for porn sites currently being challenged i  the Supreme Court.

According to industry attorney Lawrence Walters, this type of bill raises different issues than age verification laws for adult websites. The devices at issue are not likely to be deemed expressive works, and therefore the First Amendment would not be implicated, Walters told XBIZ. Instead, restrictions or prohibitions on the sale of obscene devices trigger substantive due process concerns under the Fourteenth Amendment. The government is prohibited from burdening an individuals right to engage in private intimate conduct of his or her choosing. Laws that interfere with that right have been struck down in several states, Walters noted -- including in Texas.

There is also the separate issue of imposing local requirements on internet-based sellers with no physical presence in the state. Such regulatory obligations can run afoul of the Commerce Clause or be deemed outside the jurisdiction of state regulation, Walters said. A court may be called upon to decide whether Texas has the authority to regulate ecommerce retailers located outside the state.

The Kansas sate attorney general, Kris Kobach has taken legal action against 13 porn websites that have not implemented the required age/ID verification for their readers. A press release explains:

Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach today announced his office has filed a lawsuit against SARJ LLC, the operator of 13 adult websites. The Kansas Attorney General's Office filed the suit in Shawnee County District Court.

Since July 1, 2024, Kansas law has required that adult websites verify the age of its users. SARJ LLC's websites distribute erotic films, photography, and live streaming platforms without verifying the age of users. The lawsuit marks the first such suit under the 2024 law. Kobach said:

Protecting our children against the harmful effects of pornography is a high priority for all Kansans. This law is making a difference. When the Kansas Legislature passes a law, I will enforce it faithfully to the letter of the law. That is what the people of Kansas elected me to do.

Under Kansas law, SARJ LLC's practices are subject to civil penalties of up to $10,000 per violation per day.

The 13 websites listed are:

metartnetwork.com;
metart.com;
metartx.com;
sexart.com;
vivthomas.com;
thelifeerotic.com;
eroticbeauty.com;
lovehairy.com;
domai.com;
goddessnudes.com;
rylskyart.com;
stunning18.com; and
straplez.com

VPN company reports a massive rise in VPN demand on 1st of January 2025 when a new Florida censorship law requiring age/ID verification for access to porn came into force. VPN-pushing vpnMentor documented a rather incredible 1150% spike in Floridians wanting to use a VPN to hide their location.

The major porn website Pornhub decided to self ban access from any IP address based in Florida. So even those viewers willing to stupidly hand over ID data to a porn site would be blocked, leaving a VPN as the main way of continuing to access Pornhub.

A vpnMentor spokesperson explained to the tech news site The Register:

To measure the impact of VPN demand the research team compiles data from a variety of sources. The team uses internal tools to assess changes in terms of search volume, web traffic, and clicks related to VPN services in general. We work with different metrics which we analyze, and we evaluate the searches or impressions that transform into downloads.

In March, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed the Online Protection for Minors act, aka House Bill 3 , into law. The legislation requires websites to verify visitors' ages, and for those hosting a substantial portion of material harmful to minors, such as Pornhub, to block access to anyone under 18 in an effort to prevent kids and teens from peeping on any pornographic videos. HB3 allows fines of up to $50,000 for websites that don't comply with the regulations.

And so in response, Pornhub's parent company Aylo decided to yank the site from Florida users as it had already done in other states with similar laws, including Kentucky, Indiana, Idaho, Kansas, Nebraska, Texas, North Carolina, Montana, Mississippi, Virginia, Arkansas, and Utah. Pornhub explained:

Unfortunately, the way many jurisdictions worldwide, including Florida, have chosen to implement age verification is ineffective, haphazard, and dangerous.

Any regulations that require hundreds of thousands of adult sites to collect significant amounts of highly sensitive personal information is putting user safety in jeopardy. Moreover, as experience has demonstrated, unless properly enforced, users will simply access non-compliant sites or find other methods of evading these laws.

A group of Florida-based strip clubs and adult entertainment venues is preparing to sue their state government for recently adopting a law that requires all performers to be at least 21 years old. Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the age discrimination law as House Bill (HB) 7063.

The bill enters force on July 1, 2024, so litigation is expected to be filed in the coming weeks. Bloomberg Law senior correspondent Chris Marr reports that attorneys in Fort Lauderdale are preparing to represent club owners and other venues to challenge the statewide law. HB 7063 broadly applies to strip clubs, burlesque shows, adult bookstores and other establishments considered legal adult entertainment under Florida obscenity statutes.

Angelina Spencer-Crisp, a public affairs professional who manages trade groups representing adult entertainment clubs nationwide and locally in Florida, told AVN that HB 7063 is a coordinated effort to limit freedoms for adults. She said:

They pass these laws ... saying that [human trafficking in clubs] is rampant. And, you see all these taglines in the news saying there is a correlation between strip clubs and trafficking. Am I telling you that it never happens? No, I am not saying that. But what I am saying is that based on the government's own data, it is less than 1 percent.